Faith
by DMxxfreek
Summary: Danika thought her family was out of harms way, but she was wrong. Dead wrong.
1. Prologue

Prologue

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><p><strong>Sorry guys, I'm not done typing this story up yet. I thought I would just post a little teaser for you all while you wait. It's been a long time, and I figured some of you would be wanting something. Anyway, who else watched the season premiere? I thought it was pretty awesome. Nick in those glasses, yummy. I was also wondering if there were any episodes you would like me to cover. Either in this story, or my possible series of one-shots. Feel free to let me know in a review. <strong>

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><p>Danika wasn't ready for this. Nowhere near ready for this. Cassie was busy playing with her doll, doodling on some of the paper Jillian had brought along with her. A big difference from the past two weeks, when she would ask time and time again when her daddy was going to come home. Danika didn't have the heart to tell her daughter what was going on. She wasn't even two yet. She wouldn't understand. Every time she passed by the double doors, her heart would drop.<p>

There was only supposed to be one surgery. Two tops if something were to happen. But just like everything else, things took a turn for the worst. The bullet fragments were too close to his heart, causing her husband to go into immediate surgery not even five minutes after he arrived at the hospital, and now-

"Calm down, sweetie. He's going to be fine. You'll see."

Jillian Stokes was one of the strongest women Danika knew. She knew it must have been from all of the phone calls she had gotten from over the years, telling her what kind of mess Nick had gotten into, but how she managed to keep her composure, especially at the time like this; Danika was jealous. She only hoped that one day she would be able to be that strong.

"You said that the first time too," she replied, unconsciously rubbing her arms, attempting to keep herself warm. Why did hospitals have to be so cold? She cursed herself for not bringing a jacket with her. "I'm sorry, Jillian, I can't help but worry."

"It's quite all right, dear," her mother-in-law smiled. "Have a seat; you haven't been off your feet for a good hour now. That's not good for you right now. You heard what the doctor said."

Of course she knew what the doctor said, and for that she felt slightly guilty. She was told that anymore stress might cause more problems, and she didn't need any more problems. After losing one son, there was no way she was risking the other.

"Mommy, see?" Cassie grinned, holding up the drawing. "Daddy, like?

"Daddy is going to love it," Danika picked her daughter up, setting her in her lap, admiring the picture. "It's beautiful, baby."

"Daddy, sweepin'?" she asked.

"Yes, Cassie, daddy is still sleeping."

"Go see?"

Why did Cassie have to ask so many questions? Thankfully, Jillian intervened, offering if Cassie wanted to go get Nick a present for when he woke up. She didn't need to be asked twice, leaving her and Bill alone and waiting for some kind of news.

"How are you handling all of this?" she asked.

"Pancho is strong. He's been through tough spots like this, well sort of like this, before. He has someone watching over him. I certain of it."

"But what if he's not so lucky this time?" she could feel the stinging in her eyes. "I need him, Bill."

"Don't think like that, Danika," he said, taking the vacant seat beside her. "He needs up to stay strong and pray for him."

Pray for him. What did he think she was doing when she went home at night? Having nights on the two with her friends? All she did was pray. She just needed something, anything at all, just so she knew Nick was going to be all right.

"Stokes family?" both Danika and Bill got to their feet.

"Please give us some good news, doctor," Bill spoke. "Anything."

"If the Mrs. would follow me please."

Danika glanced up at her father-in-law before following the doctor through the double doors all the way to the end of the hall. As he stopped before the door, gesturing for her to enter the room, he gave her a small smile then headed back down the corridor. She was shaking, but who wouldn't be? Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the hospital room, tears rapidly falling form her eyes, hands covering her mouth in shock.

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><p><strong>I'm not sure when I will start posting this story, but I will try and get the chapters out as soon as I can. <strong>


	2. Not Looking Good

Not Looking Good

Chapter One

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><p><strong>Happy New Year Everyone! I hope you all had a great evening last night. To start off 2015, I decided to update this story for you all. Like I said before, I'm still trying to figure out which direction to go with this story, so updates will be slow. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.<strong>

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><p>Ray knew he was in trouble. Yes, Charlie was dead, but Nick; he was losing Nick fast. Nick needed to get to the hospital and quickly. No matter how much pressure he put on his friend's wound, the blood continued to pool around his body. He was thankful Nick was unconscious, he couldn't imagine the pain. Where were those damn paramedics?<p>

He could see Charlie's unmoving body in the entryway leading to the kitchen. At least Doctor Jekyll was now a thing of the past. But then there was Clark. Ray could see his body as well. Blood flowing from his chest. That wasn't supposed to happen. The department had lost a good man. It was a real shame, but if Nick and Papa DiMasa didn't get any attention soon, they were going to be lying on the coroner's table too. Ray was going to be the only one walking away from this mess if no one got to the restaurant soon.

Danika was going to lose it. That was certain. She had just come out of a life-changing event herself, and when she would get the call about Nick; Ray could only imagine what she would do. It wasn't going to be pretty. Maybe it would be best if-

"Ray!" Langston said a silent prayer when he heard Jim's voice. "Ray, where are you?"

"Over here!" he hollered, glancing down at his friend. "You've got the medics right?"

"Yeah, they're on their way in-oh man. Nick?" Jim answered, crouching down next to Ray's side. "He's not-"

"No, he's still got a pulse," Ray confirmed. "Both he and DiMasa need immediate attention. DiMasa's Vena Cava is about to burst, and Nick's been shot."

The paramedics were there within seconds. One gurney, strapping DiMasa in first, trying to calm him down to make sure his condition wouldn't worsen. Nick was next, thankfully still unconscious. Both Jim and Ray hoped he wouldn't remember what happened when he actually woke up. Finally, the bodies of Charlie and Clark were rolled out.

"What exactly went on in here, Ray?" Jim asked as they stood in the now vacant restaurant.

"Charlie, the one they just took away, was Doctor Jekyll. His father was the reason why he killed those people. Charlie wanted to be a doctor. His father had other plans. That must have flipped the switch."

"Big switch," Jim watched the lights from the ambulance fade away from the windows. "Do you want to call her or should I?"

There was the million dollar question. The longer they waited, the more stressed she would be, and Danika didn't need the stress. Maybe Nick would pull through this before the morning, and they could act like nothing had happened.

"Maybe we should hold off on that call, Jim."

"Maybe you're right. Don't tell anyone, but Danika can be a bit scary at times. I for one don't want to be there when she gets the news."

Jim had a point. Danika had her moments. Ray was one hundred percent sure that this was going to be one of those times when the news was given to her.

"Let's get to the hospital."

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><p>Danika was thoroughly impressed. These students really got into the projects. They were so entertaining, and by the look of things, the students were as into the presentation as she was.<p>

"Very nice, group four. Five, I'm not sure if you can top that," she joked. "But let's see you give it a try."

"Oh, don't you worry Professor Stokes, we can top it," Justin commented. "We brought candy," he held up a giant bag of chocolate.

"You better have Kit Kats in there," she said.

"Of course."

"All right you four-hold that thought for a minute," Danika noticed the phone on her desk, buzzing to life, displaying Ray's name on the screen. "This is a really bad time, Ray. You couldn't have waited thirty minutes?"

"I'm afraid not," he sighed before continuing. "You need to get down to Desert Palm right away."

"Why?"

"Nick's in trouble," her heart dropped.

"What kind of trouble?"

"Just get down here, and I'll explain everything."

The line went dead after that. Her phone landed on her desk with a thud as her eyes glazed over.

"Professor Stokes, is everything all right?" Justin asked.

"Um, I'm afraid we'll have to wait for your project next class. Family emergency, so you're all dismissed."

The kids didn't need telling twice. They never did. Whenever they were able to get out of class, any of them early, they were out the door in thirty seconds flat. When her room was empty, Danika grabbed her bag, keys, and high-tailed it to the hospital.

Now Danika had done this many times before, but the way Ray sounded this time over the phone wasn't good. It wasn't good at all.

"Excuse me," she walked towards the main desk. "Can you help me-"

"Danika!" she spun on her heels, seeing Ray racing towards her. "Come with me."

"Ray, please tell me what's going on," her heart was beating a mile a minute, pleading with him, grabbing onto his arm. "Is Nick going to be all right?"

"He's in surgery right now, and that's all I know right now," he explained, stopping one they found the others sitting in those horribly uncomfortable hospital chairs. Jim was pacing back and forth .Catherine and Sara almost had their heads together as they talked about something, and Greg was eating, glancing at the double doors every few seconds.

"Jim," she spoke. "I need answers.

"What did Ray tell you?"

"That Nick's in surgery," she said. "What happened?"

"Ray would be a much better person to explain to you what happened. He was with Nick when everything happened."

"You were with him?" Danika glared at her friend. "Ray!"

"Nick was shot. We confronted Doctor Jekyll and he shot Nick before I had the chance to shoot him."

"He got shot? Wait, you shot someone? Since when are you carrying a gun?"

"I think we can talk about that later," Ray said. "There are more important things to talk about at the moment."

"And wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute. Why did I just get notified of this now?" Danika asked. "This must have happened last night. Don't you think I had the right to know what happens to my husband as soon as anything happens?"

"We didn't think this was going to happen," Ray lied. "We thought Nick would pull through this morning. We were wrong."

"You're a terrible liar, Raymond Langston," Danika said. "How long has he been in there?"

"Four hours, give or take," Jim answered.

"Did you call Bill and Jillian yet?"

"No, we figured it would be best to tell you first, let Nick get better, and then maybe not even have to tell them," Ray explained.

"Right, because that's a great idea," Danika rolled her eyes. "By the way this is going; Nick's going to be in there for a while. Call me if anything changes. I need to get Cassie and make a phone call."

"You'll be the first person we'll call."

"Oh, thanks for making me feel so important, Jim."

The drive home seemed to never end. It felt like Danika would never get home, but she needed to get home. She needed to get to her baby. Turning off the ignition, Danika darted into the house, completely forgetting about her belongings. Maddie's ears perked up as she followed her into the living room.

"Laura, thank you so much for doing this on such short notice. You are a lifesaver," Danika forced a smile, paying the teenager. "I still can't believe you had off today."

"I know what you mean. We get off for the most stupid reasons," Laura grinned. "Have a good day, Mrs. Stokes."

"Thanks, you too!" Danika hoisted her daughter onto her hip as they waved goodbye. "Did you have fun with Laura, baby?"

"Ya, Mommy," Cassie smiled widely. "We pay games an had tee pawtee."

"You did?" Danika asked, sitting the two of them down on the couch. "That sounds like so much fun. Can you do me a favor, princess?"

"Ya."

"You stay here with Maddie while I go call Grammy and Pap Pap, okay."

"Kay, Mommy."

"Thank you, Cassie," she kissed her forehead, making her way into the kitchen to call her in-laws. This was not going to be a pleasant conversation. "Hi, Jillian."

"Danika, what do I owe this pleasure? Don't you have a class right now? Not that I am complaining of course. It's good to hear from you," Jillian spoke. Nope, this was not going to be fun at all, especially when her mother-in-law sounded so happy.

"It's nice to hear from you too, Jillian," she said. "How are you and Bill doing?"

"Now Danika, don't try and skirt around the issue. What happened to my son this time?"

"Huh?"

"It's early in the morning, and it seems like most of the reasons you call is to let Bill and me know what sort of mess my idiot of a son got into. So don't sugar-coat anything this time, Danika. What did Nick get into this time?"

"Nick's in the hospital-"

"Isn't he always? It seems like he is there at least a third of the year," Danika wanted to laugh. Jillian was right; Nick had been to the hospital a lot lately, but under these circumstances, so couldn't. "What was it this time? Smacked in the head? Bit by a dog?"

"Nick got shot in the chest," Danika paused, hearing Jillian gasp. "He's in surgery right now. Has been for five hours."

"And you're just telling me this now?"

"I just found out fifteen minutes ago," she said. "Jim and Ray thought it would be better to not say anything as soon as it happened."

"Say no more," Jillian said. "Bill and I will be on the next flight out. Thank you for letting me know. Bill and I will see you later."

"All right, Jillian." Danika tossed her phone to the side. That wasn't as horrible as she thought it was going to be.

"Mommy," Cassie entered the kitchen, Maddie following her close behind. "Mommy, kay?"

"Mommy's not feeling her best today, sweetie," she answered.

"Why? Bruda not kay?"

"Your brother's fine, Cassie," she said. "It's your daddy, sweetheart. He's not feeling well."

"Daddy sick?"

"Yes, Cassie. Daddy is sick. We're going to go and see him in the hospital all right."

"Kay, Mommy."

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><p><strong>vegas nivel 3 - I'm sorry for the long hiatus, but hopefully the new year will give me more motivation to update. As for finding out about Nick, you'll just have to wait and see :)<strong>

**gaarasmistress39 - You're going to have to wait and find out :) **


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